Volume III

Issue : 7: April 7, 2005

• U.S. Gift Shop Sues Google Over Click Fraud Advertising
• Tobacco Websites Shut Down After Credit Card Companies Refuse Online Payments
• New York Court Rules Common Law Protects Recordings Made Before U.S. Copyright Legislation
• Canadian Government Releases Copyright Reform Report
• Canadian Telecom Challenges Regulator over VoIP - CRTC Imposes 9-1-1 Rules
• Jury Verdict Orders Toshiba to Pay $465M in California Trade Secret Case
• N.Y Appeals Court Rules Out-of-State Telecommuter Must Pay N.Y. Income Tax
• Freelance Writers Settle Electronic Database Class Action Lawsuit in U.S.
• B.C. Court Releases Decision in Data Outsourcing Case
• WTO Releases Decision in Online Gambling Case

Home > Volume III > Issue 7: April 7, 2005 > Tobacco Websites Shut Down After Credit Card Companies Refuse Online Payments

Tobacco Websites Shut Down After Credit Card Companies Refuse Online Payments

Many credit card and online payment services, such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and PayPal, have recently refused to accept payments for online purchases of tobacco products. As a result, many online tobacco businesses have either shut down their websites or are close to going out of business. The credit card companies decided to take this action after U.S. state governments and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms informed them that almost all of the online payments for tobacco were illegal because of the failure of tobacco vendors to comply with age verification and sales registration requirements.

Regarding the laws requiring registration of tobacco sales, state and federal officials claim that the lack of compliance makes it difficult to collect taxes on the sales of tobacco products, leading to significant losses in cigarette tax revenues. Meanwhile, many online tobacco vendors disagree vehemently with the claims of the government authorities, and those vendors who have not shut down operations are exploring other options in order to sustain their businesses.

For additional information, visit:

http://shorl.com/dekorirefrapro